Experts have warned that China is facing a deteriorating trend of rising road traffic accidents, which have enabled the country to lead the world in terms of road traffic death toll.

Statistics of traffic and police departments worldwide show that the global traffic accident death toll amounted to 500,000 in2003, with the largest share of 104,000 reported in China, followed by India with 86,000, the United States with 40,000, and Russia with 26,000, said Duan Liren, former deputy director of the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau.

Road accidents are listed as the seventh leading killer in China, following diseases involving cerebral vein, respiratory system, malignant tumors, heart, injuries and poisoning, as well as digestive system.

As from the end of last century, road accident cases have remained little changed or tended to decline as a whole worldwide, but the situation in China is worsening with a rising trend, warned Duan.

(Xinhua News Agency May 17, 2004)